Blocking-IO Guard Skill

Help a contributor ship backend async changes together with the runtime anchor that lets DeerFlow's blocking-IO CI gate actually see the new code. The dynamic detector only catches blocking IO on paths a test executes — this skill closes that gap, either for your own diff or for a repo-wide triage round.

Read references/good-anchor-rules.md before writing any anchor. Only read references/sop-skeleton.md when generalizing this SOP to another detector domain — it is not needed to execute the steps below.

When to use

• Your change touches Python under backend/app/,

backend/packages/harness/deerflow/, or backend/scripts/ and may run on the async event loop (Mode A). If unsure, run Step 0 — it answers deterministically.

• You are doing a maintenance triage round over the existing codebase

(Mode B).

SOP (router)

Step 0 — Scope (deterministic)

Mode A — your own diff (default, pre-PR). From repo root:

uv run --project backend python scripts/scan_changed_blocking_io.py --base origin/main

Lists blocking-IO candidates your change introduces: findings on lines the diff added, plus findings that are new versus the merge base — the latter catches a new async caller exposing an old sync helper whose blocking line is not in the diff. The diff is <base>...HEAD, so commit your work first — uncommitted lines are not selected.

If the list is empty, this change introduces no blocking-IO surface that the static detector can see in the changed files. One residual blind spot remains: reachability is same-file only, so a new async caller of a sync helper defined in another file is invisible to both selections. If your diff adds an async call into a helper that lives elsewhere, check that helper manually (codegraph or git grep) before stopping.

Mode B — full-repo triage round. From repo root:

make detect-blocking-io

Prints a summary and writes the complete structured finding list to .deer-flow/blocking-io-findings.json. Work HIGH priority first; do not start MEDIUM until every HIGH is dispositioned (fixed, guarded, or recorded NO-ACTION).

Batching policy (PR sizing). One fix unit per PR while any HIGH remains: a fix unit is one root cause — usually a single HIGH, but two HIGHs resolved by the same one-place fix belong together. Once no HIGH remains, MEDIUM/LOW may be batched (about five per round, grouped by module or by disposition) so each PR stays reviewable. A new Blockbuster rule is never batched with anything — it always ships alone (see Step 5).

Both modes emit the same JSON shape per finding: priority, location (path/line/function), blocking_call (category/operation/symbol), event_loop_exposure, reason, code. Priority is a deterministic review ordering, not proof of a bug — Step 1 makes the actual call.

Step 1 — Judge each candidate (router)

Read the code around each candidate and route it:

• Already offloaded (asyncio.to_thread, run_in_executor, async client) →

GUARD: add/extend an anchor that locks the offload so a future edit cannot move it back onto the loop.

• On the loop, not offloaded → FIX+ANCHOR: offload the production code

(your fix), then add an anchor that guards it.

• Not actually exposed / acceptable (rare: scanner false positive,

startup-only code) → NO-ACTION: record one line of why.

• Cross-file caveat: the scanner's async reachability is same-file only

(ASYNC_REACHABLE_SAME_FILE). If the candidate is a sync helper, check for async callers in other files (codegraph or git grep) before deciding NO-ACTION.

Step 2 — Apply the fix, then re-scan (FIX+ANCHOR only)

Offload the blocking call in production code, then re-run the Step 0 scan and confirm the candidate no longer appears. If the offloaded call sits in a finally / cleanup path, keep it best-effort and bounded (swallow-and-log, asyncio.wait_for) so a failing or hung cleanup cannot mask the primary exception. Match by the stable key (path, function, symbol) — line numbers shift after edits, so never compare by line.

• The finding must disappear. If it still shows, the fix did not remove the

blocking pattern (e.g. the call is still a direct call, not offloaded) — go back before touching any test.

• GUARD / NO-ACTION routes skip this step: a residual finding there is

expected (the raw call still exists inside a sync helper with the offload at the caller, or the exposure was judged acceptable).

This is pattern-level feedback in seconds; it complements but never replaces Step 5 — only the runtime gate proves the event loop is actually protected.

Step 3 — Check existing anchors

Look in backend/tests/blocking_io/ for a test that drives the production async entry point reaching this candidate's branch.

• Covers this branch already → go to Step 5 (re-verify teeth).
• Covers the entry point but not this branch (e.g. happy path covered,

cleanup/404/409 not) → extend that anchor.

• None → create one from templates/anchor.template.py.

Step 4 — Generate / extend the anchor

Follow references/good-anchor-rules.md. Drive the specific branch (e.g. force the create failure that hits the cleanup shutil.rmtree). Never bypass the blocking surface with a test-only asyncio.to_thread wrapper.

Step 5 — Verify teeth (mandatory; also the anchor-vs-rule discriminator)

1. 1Reintroduce the block (GUARD: temporarily revert the offload; FIX+ANCHOR: run against the pre-fix code).
2. 2Run cd backend && make test-blocking-io (or target the one test). It must go RED.
3. 3Restore the fix. It must go GREEN.

A real block that stays GREEN means Blockbuster has no rule for that primitive — that is the RULE route; see references/good-anchor-rules.md for the admission criteria before adding one.

Step 6 — Deliver

Commit the anchor(s) with your change; make test-blocking-io green. In the PR, note: candidates found, each disposition, the re-scan result (Step 2), and the teeth evidence (red→green). Include the reason for any NO-ACTION. A new Blockbuster rule, if any, goes in its own commit with the evidence from Step 5.